The power of God is like the power of the sun that causes grass that springs up at dawn to wilt and fade by evening says the psalmist in Psalm 90. In Psalm 91 we are assured the protections of angels who guard us in all our ways. Upon their hands they will bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone. Psalm 92 compares a just man to a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord where he will bear fruit even in old age. Psalm 93 speaks of the glory of the Lord’s kingdom. In modern day phraseology, Nan Merrill in Psalms for Praying paraphrases Psalm 93. “Mightier than the thunder of many storms, mightier than the waves of the sea, is the Heart of Love!” The psalmist warns Israel’s oppressors in Psalm 94 as if we ourselves should wake up from our ignorance and arrogance in ignoring the lonely, the stranger, the homeless children. He praises and blesses those who have asked for forgiveness, who have responded with love, who have spoken against the oppressors. These ancient people understand The Law and the consequence of not heeding It. Psalm 95, the Venite Exsultemus, is the psalm which opens the Divine Office prayed daily in monasteries around the world. Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun, in Called To Question responds to the verse “For this is our God and we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep of God’s hand.” “It is sometimes very difficult to know where God is for us: in the demands of authority for obedience to the sins they call virtue….Or is God in the questions of the heart that deserve to be pursued-that demand to be answered- in the light of the rest of the gospel? And so the question haunts me. Would Jesus stay in the church today? In any of them? And, if not, who would follow him out of it? Would I? Yes, there’s the question. I have lived a lifetime of ecclesiastical sins:…….And I went along with all of them. So which sin is greater? Theirs or mine?” And, we thought we were the only ones who wrestled with leaving church. Should I leave or stay? I think Joan has chosen to stay in and stand out. The power of one voiceless nun in a male dominated church. May we all join our voices with hers.
The power of God is like the power of the sun that causes grass that springs up at dawn to wilt and fade by evening says the psalmist in Psalm 90. In Psalm 91 we are assured the protections of angels who guard us in all our ways. Upon their hands they will bear us up lest we dash our foot against a stone. Psalm 92 compares a just man to a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord where he will bear fruit even in old age. Psalm 93 speaks of the glory of the Lord’s kingdom. In modern day phraseology, Nan Merrill in Psalms for Praying paraphrases Psalm 93. “Mightier than the thunder of many storms, mightier than the waves of the sea, is the Heart of Love!” The psalmist warns Israel’s oppressors in Psalm 94 as if we ourselves should wake up from our ignorance and arrogance in ignoring the lonely, the stranger, the homeless children. He praises and blesses those who have asked for forgiveness, who have responded with love, who have spoken against the oppressors. These ancient people understand The Law and the consequence of not heeding It. Psalm 95, the Venite Exsultemus, is the psalm which opens the Divine Office prayed daily in monasteries around the world. Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun, in Called To Question responds to the verse “For this is our God and we are the people of God’s pasture and the sheep of God’s hand.” “It is sometimes very difficult to know where God is for us: in the demands of authority for obedience to the sins they call virtue….Or is God in the questions of the heart that deserve to be pursued-that demand to be answered- in the light of the rest of the gospel? And so the question haunts me. Would Jesus stay in the church today? In any of them? And, if not, who would follow him out of it? Would I? Yes, there’s the question. I have lived a lifetime of ecclesiastical sins:…….And I went along with all of them. So which sin is greater? Theirs or mine?” And, we thought we were the only ones who wrestled with leaving church. Should I leave or stay? I think Joan has chosen to stay in and stand out. The power of one voiceless nun in a male dominated church. May we all join our voices with hers.
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